Monday, 25 November 2013

Ferrari 250 GTO Scaglietti

Words & photos - Daniel Bevis

This Scaglietti-bodied 250 GTO has a rich and diverse history. On its original Modenese plates - MO 91553 - it took first place at the Goodwood Whitsun Trophy in June 1963 with Mike Parkes at the wheel, and it showed startling dominance throughout the sixties. Later in '63 it was successfully raced by Jack Sears and Graham Hill; the following year saw Innes Ireland in the driving seat, who then handed the keys over to Mike Salmon in '65. Notable period results include 6th place (3rd in class) at the 1964 Le Mans 24h, 1st in the '64 500km at Spa, and 3rd in the Reims 12h. In 1969 ownership passed to Anthony Bamford, who first registered it under the UK number JCB 250 before switching to the rather more personal APB 1.

From the early nineties to the present day, this pristine 250 has been a darling of the historic show scene, appearing at the Silverstone Historic Festival and Goodwood Festival of Speed among many others. However, the arena in which it's arguably best known is the Goodwood Revival. It's no show queen here, but instead does the traditional Revival thing of having its neck comprehensively wrung for the hungry crowds. Sure, it's a priceless historic motorsport artefact, but it was originally built with just one purpose: going really rather fast on track. It's nice to see that this purpose is still being fulfilled.